Ultrasonic-Assisted Drilling of 4340 Alloy Steel — New Article

By: Buffalo Manufacturing Works Team | November 2nd, 2017

Tough and resistant to fatigue, 4340 is a high-strength alloy steel that is widely used in the automobile and aerospace industries. Due to its properties, drilling 4340 alloy steel, especially at high material removal rates, has challenges that include heavy thrust force and torque which directly affect tool life, surface roughness, and dimensional accuracy of drilled holes. Therefore, to improve productivity of the drilling process using faster feed rates, these challenges must be addressed.

EWI UAD module

With deep expertise and capabilities in high-power ultrasonics, EWI has developed an industrially hardened, ultrasonic-assisted drilling (UAD) system which applies high-frequency (20 kHz) vibrations at amplitudes of 2-20 µm to the drill tip in the feed direction. This system, which is fully compatible with CNC systems, is able to work with a drill at a shank diameter of up to 20 mm for a variety of materials from aluminum to Inconel and composites.

Studies conducted by EWI’s Amin Moghaddas, Matt Short, and Karl Graff have demonstrated notable improvements in productivity using the EWI UAD system on 4340 alloy steel. The findings are reported in a new article, Ultrasonic-Assisted Drilling of 4340 Alloy Steel.